In the early hours of Saturday, 9 May 2015, an incident occurred in Kumanovo, a town in the north of Macedonia, some 40 kilometers northeast of Skopje. This is also the fifth day of protests against police brutality organised by citizens who are calling for the resignation of Gruevski’s government.

Many have speculated that this is a staged conflict, presented by the pro-government media as an attack by a paramilitary formation on Macedonian police forces. According to the Facebook status of one of the protesters, the fact that it remains unclear what exactly is happening in Kumanovo only confirms that the government has lost its legitimacy and must resign.

A Kumanovo inhabitant, and member of the Student Plenum, is reporting on the events through his Facebook profile. People in the streets are being detained by the police. The E-75 highway, going from Skopje by Kumanovo to Belgrade and Sofia, has been blocked. Tapes of media which are not pro-government have been confiscated.

As a reaction to these brutal scenarios, which left a yet unconfirmed number of dead, the citizens’ opposition has announced further peaceful protests, with the next one scheduled for 18:00 today, 9 May 2015, in front of the government headquarters in Skopje. Today’s protest coincide with the 70th anniversary of the victory over fascism. Protestors will pay their respect to their peaceful fellow activists, now in custody and the killed in the recent shootings in Kumanovo.